State Superintendent June Atkinson joins Governor Pat McCrory in recognizing March 14-18 as Students@Work℠ Week. The Students@Work initiative involves schools and businesses across North Carolina. It is focused on raising North Carolina’s graduation rate and exposing middle school students to job skills needed in the workplace through job shadowing and mentoring opportunities.
Students@Work℠ is a joint initiative between the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This year’s program involves more than 100 businesses throughout the state and is expected to impact more than 23,000 students.
“Education and workforce preparedness efforts must be coordinated in the 21st century,” said State Superintendent June Atkinson. “The schools cannot do it alone and our businesses cannot be solely responsible for helping to prepare today’s students to be tomorrow’s productive workers. The two must work together and are working together through initiatives such as Students@Work℠.”
Students@Work℠ centers its efforts around middle school students because middle school is a crucial time for dropout prevention and also when students prepare for success in high school. The program helps to demonstrate to these students the relevance of education to future success through direct experience with the workplace.
From the Randolph County School System, all six traditional middle schools recognized and celebrated Students@Work℠ week. UMS and NERMS exposed students to a wide-range of career choices through Career Fairs. ATMS students visited the Archdale Police Department, Timken, and RCC’s Archdale Campus. SERMS, RMS, and SWRMS enjoyed similar tours of local business and industry locations and specific areas of Randolph Community College.
Career & Technical Education - Randolph County School System 